Kidnapped
by MoyashiAlice
Summary: Naruto is worried that the man Team 7 is escorting is actually after his friend. Sasuke brushes this worry off, which in turn causes Naruto to get kidnapped. The kidnappers give Sasuke a clear message. If they want to see Naruto alive again, he must submit to them. Too bad the men underestimated the power of one very angry Uchiha...
1. Chapter 1

CHAPTER 1

Naruto Uzumaki was not happy. Not one bit. Giving the man they were escorting a death glare he stomped onwards on the pebble road. The Third Hokage had send Team 7 on a mission that the blonde loathed. Normally, he would be happy to escort a person to their village. But not the creep walking next to his sensei. Verrat, in his eyes, was as bad as Mizuki, the man who had tricked him into stealing Konaha's Scroll of Seals. The man reeked of garbage as if he had been in a sewer all day. His clothes were worn and the only weapon he had was a long silver blade, which he had a tendency to clean. His eyes were as dark as coal and unlike Sasuke's contained no warmth; ever. His hair was bristle and long, his skin as dry as parchment. There wasn't one thing that Naruto liked about the man and he made sure his view was known.

"You got a problem with me brat?" Verrat snarled when Naruto continued to stare at him.

"You better believe it!" Naruto hissed. "What the heck is your problem, you creep? Stop leering at me every fifteen seconds!"

"I'm not the one who initiates the staring!" Verrat hissed. "It's you who can't keep your eyes off me and Uchiha!" Sakura whirled around at this, her mouth open.

"Verrat-san, that's a rather wild accusation..." she began peeking at Sasuke to see his reaction. Sasuke just walked on as if nothing was happening behind him. Naruto turned red, in both anger and embarrassment.

"You want to know why that is?" he hissed. "Because you won't leave him alone for five minutes. Every time I turn around your asking him about his great clan or times his activated his sharingan. I don't know what you're after but I don't like you." As soon as the words left his mouth, Naruto smiled. Verrat's eyes, if anything, grew even darker. "I knew it" Naruto thought proudly. "He's trying to get Sasuke to join his team or something."

"Naruto, why are you such a loser?" Sasuke said from in front of him.

"Huh?!" Naruto bellowed.

"Look Dobe, Verrat's interest in the clan in normal. Even if he were trying to capture me, there's no way that he would succeed." Sasuke said coldly. "Both of us know this." Sakura nodded eagerly.

"Of course, Sasuke-kun!" Verrat said in a sickly sweet voice that caused Naruto and this time Sakura as well, to glare at the man. "There's no way that you could beat me. Yet I'm sure there's someone who could. After all, every shinobi had a weakness." Sasuke frowned.

"With the exception of me, I have no weakness." he said curtly.

"Oh, I don't believe that to be true." Verrat said pulling out his blade and cleaning its already spotless blade. "I've heard that you cared deeply for your family..."

"Verrat-san, I'll have to stop you there." Kakashi said, walking with make-out violence edition four in his hand. "My student's pasts are something that we don't discuss." Verrat made a bow that seemed almost mocking towards Kakashi.

"I'm truly sorry" he said grinning with his blackened teeth. "I'll make sure to stick in the present from now on." The group walked in silence until they reached a meadow field where they decided to stay the night. They were setting up their sleeping bags when Naruto decided to approach Sasuke.

"Sasuke!" he whispered in a low voice. Sasuke frowned.

"What is it?" he asked gruffly. Naruto paused fidgeting ever so slightly.

"Uh, about what that creep Verrat said..." he began.

"Leave it." Sasuke replied climbing under the covers. Naruto bit his lip softly.

"Fine Teme!" he snapped turning his head away. "I see how it is!"

"Go to bed, Dobe" Sasuke hissed from under his sheets. Frowning Naruto was about to do just that until he heard a voice calling him.

"Hey blonde brat, over here for a second!" Verrat called somewhere from inside his tent that he had brought along. Naruto grumbled angrily to himself as he headed over.

"What was Kakashi-sensei thinking accepting this mission?!" he wondered. He got his answer as soon as he walked into the tent. Kakashi was leaving the tent with about five different Icha Icha books.

"Verrat has the whole collection of my favourite series" he replied to his stunned student. "I'm borrowing them for a light read. Goodnight!"

"YOU APPLIED US ON THIS MISSION SO YOU COULD READ-" Naruto shouted when Kakashi covered him mouth. He gave Naruto a quick smile then left in a poof of dust. "Perv!" Naruto yelled after him then stormed into Verrat's tent. The man gave him a smirk that made Naruto want to punch him out then and there.

"What do you want?" Naruto asked rudely.

The man smiled and asked "Naruto, does Sasuke consider you and Sakura to be his friends?" Naruto stared at the man suspiciously.


	2. Chapter 2

Hi everyone~

First and foremost, thank you to everyone who is continuing reading this. It really makes my day. :) Since I didn't give an official hello last chapter, I will do it here.

This is the first fanfiction I have written, so I apologize if it isn't great. If there are any ways that I could improve my work, please let me know.

The time period for this story is after the Gaara arc, yet before Itachi comes. It does have mentions to SasuSaku and NaruSaku since team 7 is in a sort of love triangle, but the outcome of the story is SasuNaru/NaruSasu, leaning more towards SasuNaru.

Without further ado, let the chapter begin!

CHAPTER 2

"There's something not right about him," Naruto thought staring at Verrat with distrust. "He's way too interested about Sasuke." Verrat seemed to notice his discomfort and gave a toothy grin.

"Does Sasuke-kun like Sakura more than friends perhaps?" Verrat offered. Naruto scoffed at this. When he was younger, Sasuke liking Sakura had been his biggest fear. His nightmares consisted of the pinkette pushing him over and gone running into the raven's arms. He had obsessed over these dreams, to the point where Sasuke became the rival that he had to overthrow no matter what the cost. Then when they had become a team, he realized he was wrong. Sasuke did regard Sakura highly...but as a friend. Sakura of course, noticed this but desperately tried to place herself higher in his eyes. But she seemed to be losing a pointless battle. Sasuke was far too broken to feel that way for anyone. Hell, even Naruto himself wondered if he was in the same position. If the crush he felt for Sakura was only because he knew that she would never return his feels.

"Well?" Verrat asked, obviously impatient of Naruto's unusual silence.

"How should I know?" Naruto snarled in response. Verrat frowned.

"But he must have shown some sort of feeling, some indication of caring..."

"Shut up." Naruto snarled. For once, Verrat listened to him and fell silent though he was still glaring. Naruto straightened up as much as he possibly could, and even though he was still almost a head shorter then Verrat, felt stronger. "Sasuke's been through more than you can possibly imagine" he hissed. "He lost his family and because of that I don't think he'll ever love anyone again. Deep in the back of his mind will always be that fear of losing someone he cares for. So, he just won't allow himself to feel those emotions. So if you think, in your own little twisted way you can use others to get to him then you really don't know him at all." Verrat glared at Naruto for a second. Naruto stared back at man, smirking at his victory.

"You're lying." Verrat whispered suddenly stepping into Naruto's personal space. Naruto didn't move an inch, refusing to let the creep get to him.

"Oh yeah?" he whispered back, his voice tense. "And how do you figure that?" Verrat suddenly smiled, and from the distance the two were standing, Naruto could smell the stench of meat coming from his breath. Verrat's cold, clammy hand suddenly stroked the whisker on his cheek and he ever so slowly leaned forward until his mouth was right beside Naruto's ear.

"I think," he whispered ever so slowly. "that if I lay so much as a finger on you in front of Sasuke, then we'd see a whole other side to him." Naruto flinched and shoved Verrat away from him. Verrat was grinning even wider now.

"It such a shame I didn't realize where Sasuke's heart lay earlier." Verrat sighed, glancing at the wall of his tent. "I could have spared the poor girl..." Naruto didn't care what the hell Verrat was going on about with Sasuke's heart. He couldn't care less that the creep seemed to have realized that Sasuke cared about his teammates. All he heard was that Sakura was in danger.

"What did you do?!" Naruto yelled. "Where's Sakura?"

"She's at Carson waterfall." Verrat replied. "It's about a ten minute run, to the north-west. Naruto turned to go when Verrat quickly replied "She hasn't got long boy. If I were you, I would go there as fast as possible."

"You are so dead, when I get back." Naruto snarled, glancing behind him. "Escort of yours or not, I'm going to make you wish you were never born." With that statement said, Naruto dashed out of the tent. He glanced around, noticing that Sasuke and Kakashi were nowhere in sight. "I don't have time to look for them." he thought. "Sakura-chan needs me!" Bolting in the direction that Verrat had told him, he thought about what Verrat had said. _"I think, that if I lay so much as a finger on you in front of Sasuke, then we'd see a whole other side to him."_ Naruto snorted. As if the teme would do anything if Verrat attacked him. It would be his battle after all, Sasuke would... Then Naruto's eyes widened. The fight with Haku, the time when Orochimaru had knocked him out, when Sasuke had told him to take Sakura and run when they were fighting Gaara... All of those times, Sasuke had stepped in to try and protect him. Even though he had dedicated his life to hunting and destroying his brother, time after time he would try to save him. "Damn Verrat." Naruto thought frowning. "He realized that if someone hurts us then Sasuke will flip, which he seems to want for some reason." Determinedly, Naruto gazed ahead hearing the waterfall. "I won't let him have his way!" he thought and he leapt past the last tree.

"Naruto!" Sakura cried from below. Naruto fell onto his feet and gazed around him. Sakura was on the ground and tied up. She luckily seemed unharmed but around her were seven men. Naruto could instantly tell by the waves of charka they were emitting that they wouldn't be easy to beat. The men all looked like thugs, with dirty clothes and the worst person hygiene Naruto had seen in weeks. Minus Verrat of course.

"Well, what do we have here?" one of the men replied, pushing his long, oily hair back with his hand. "Verrat said that there was only going to be one captive."

"That's it. Verrat's officially dead when I go back." Naruto thought, slowly pulling a kunai out of his pouch.

"Naruto, don't try to beat them!" Sakura cried out, worry evident in her green eyes. "They have these charka stealing bands! Please, go back and get Sasuke and Kakashi-sensei." A bald man to Sakura's right gave her a swift kick for her statement, causing Naruto to feel the demon foxes power start to rise up within him.

"You should listen to your little friend." The man with the oily hair said, smirking. "Ninja or not, you can't beat us. He held up his arm, which had a tight silver chain band wrapped around it. "There are only eight of these ever created, boy." the man said smirking. There called the Laune des Schicksals . They store the chakra from all the foes we have defeated. Once we need the power then we can call upon it at out will. Do you really think that you can beat us plus the energy of all the people that us seven have ever encountered?"

Naruto smirked and replied, "Well hey, how can I tell with all your blabbing?" Sakura gasped and shook her head no.

"What did you say?" another man with missing teeth cried.

"All you've done so far if talk big and said in front of a helpless girl." Naruto pointed out, flashing one of his foxy grins. "Let's see if you're as big as you talk, huh?" The men all looked at one another and chuckled, slowly approaching the blonde. Sakura stared nervously at Naruto, but he just gave her a reassuring smirk. "Just you wait," Naruto thought, creating two doppelgangers beside him. "This time Sasuke, I'm going to show you up."


	3. Chapter 3

Hi everyone!

Sorry I have been away for a while. It has been crazy busy lately. -_- I promised myself that I would post the new chapter up this week though, so here it is. I apologize for the wait. :)

I got a question about the time frame of the story, so I will be answering it here. This story takes place when Team 7 is still together a little after the fight with Gaara. This may have confused some people, as Itachi is seen coming quickly afterwards. Also, there is no Hokage at the time to direct any missions. I will try to explain how this mission with Verrat came about.

Before Itachi and Kisame go looking for Naruto, you see the people in Konaha training, walking around town and fixing things. (At least this is what you see in the anime.) Therefore, I thought there would be just enough time for Team 7 to possibly get assigned to one mission before Itachi and Kisame show up. Also, since the Hokage wasn't around, those who needed ninja's would go over to the team leaders and ask them personally. This is when Verrat asked Kakashi to escort him, which the man agreed to. I choose this time frame specifically because it is the height of Naruto and Sasuke's , if something were to happen it would most likely be during this time. After this point, Itachi gets to Sasuke and things crumble apart. I hope this kind of clears it up for anyone who was curious.

Finally, I apologize for the few grammar/spelling mistakes. I don't have anyone to edit my work. :( All the same, I hope you enjoy! :)

* * *

Chapter 3

"Alright guys, let's go!" Naruto shouted optimistically, pointing towards Sakura. "Naruto Uzumaki rescue mission is underway!" "Right!" both clones shouted in unison and they leapt forewords with a strong battle cry. The two clones darted in the front of Naruto, and tried to kick over the bald man, who of the crew seemed the strongest. However, before they could, two of the other men leapt forewords and each grabbed a clone's leg. Normally, the clones would disappear into a poof of smoke if they were attacked too severely. But this time, the clones fell limp and hit the ground. "W...what is this?" one of them asked, struggling to escape the oily hair man's grip. "It feels like my chakra is being sucked up!" The man with oily hair chuckled at Naruto's clone's comment, his cold brown eyes watching as the clone squirmed in his grasp.

"I told you before boy, these bands are special. They suck up and store the chakra from a foe over the period of the battle until there's nothing left." the man replied, pushing his oily hair back with his free hand. No sooner had he finished his statement when the clones both disappeared.

"Quite impressive," a man with a large snake tattoo laughed as he pulled out shuriken from his pouch. "I've never seen mere clone shave so much chakra stored up inside of them. I gotta say kid, whoever you are you must have a lot of chakra."

"Ha, if you think that display was something, then wait till I show you my next move!" Naruto said, smirking broadly. "Multi Shadow Clone Jitsu!" With his words, over fifty shadow clones appeared in the surrounding areas, from the floor to the treetops. The men gasped and glanced around them in wonder.

"How is this possible, Zorn?" the bald man inquired to the man with the oily hair. Zorn gazed around, looking impressed rather than scared with the sheer number of attackers that had suddenly appeared.

"It shouldn't be." Zorn replied, glancing at Naruto with interest. "Perhaps the Uchiha isn't the only prize that we'll be able to win at the end of the day." Naruto flinched and noticed Sakura's head shoot up as well.

"What the hell do you want Sasuke for anyway?" Naruto growled. "If you think he's going to join your side then you're wrong!" Zorn snorted at this; as if the idea was the most ludicrous he had ever heard. Then he began to chuckle more and more loudly until he was laughing hysterically. A second later the men around him began to laugh simultaneously as well. Naruto grit his teeth in anger. "Fine, don't tell me! I'll just have to beat the answer out of you." he replied. Motioning to his entire shadow clone army, he yelled, "Multi Shadow Clone Jitsu Barrage!" All 50 shadows clones, including Naruto himself leapt down to the ground and began to punch any inch of the seven men they could. Face, neck, back, leg... anything but the arm where the bracelet was.

"N...ar...uto!" Sakura cried in a pained, broken yell. Naruto and a few of the unoccupied clones suddenly noticed that Sakura had been picked up by Zorn and was being used as a shield. The clones around him instantly stopped hitting and with the strength of a bull drove forwards altogether, managing to knock Zorn off his feet. Zorn growled, and clutched Sakura up against him even more tightly. Naruto snarled at the action and he himself ran and kicked the back of the man's head hard enough for his grip on Sakura to weaken. With one strong tug, three of the clones were able to rip her away from the man's grip and drag her a short distance away from him. Naruto smirked in relief, only to feel a cold hand clamp onto him. In an instance, Naruto began to feel his power draining.

"D...damn..." he thought, glaring at the now smirking man. He tried to yank his leg free, noticing that more and more shadow clones were beginning to disappear.

"It's not so much Sasuke were after," Zorn said out of the blue, causing Naruto to gaze down at the man's dark smirk. "...but rather, something that all Uchihas have." Naruto's eyebrows knit together as he struggled to both pull himself free and think about what Zorn was telling him.

"Something that only the Uchiha clan's have..." he thought. Then it suddenly hit him, like a bucket of cold water. "Oh no..." he thought. "Sasuke's eyes; the Sharingan." It suddenly made perfect sense. Why Verrat was so intent on knowing what brought Sasuke pain or who he cared about. Why the men took Sakura as a hostage and why they had beaten her up. They need Sasuke to have a bought of anger, something serious enough that he would release his Sharingan. Then, threatening to kill Sakura if he didn't surrender, they would use their special bands to take him down so he couldn't move. They would hold him down as one of them pulled out a kunai, leaned close to his eyes and...

"Giving up brat?" Zorn asked scornfully. Naruto jumped, the voice breaking him from his thoughts. All of the clones were down, minus the five surrounding Sakura protectively. He himself had almost been brought down to his knees.

"You're going to rip the eyes out of Sasuke and implant them in someone else, aren't you?" he asked in a low tone. Zorn's eyebrows rose in surprise, and then a smile crossed his face.

"Well done, brat." he replied. That was all that Naruto needed to hear. Feeling a surge of power he stood up tall, glaring at the Zorn.

"I promise you," Naruto said in a menacing tone, feeling chakra surge around him. "That no matter what happens, you'll never hurt either of my friends anymore." Zorn gazed at him, mouth open in surprise. With a cry of anger Naruto directed every ounce of power he had towards the bracelet. The bracelet suddenly shattered and Naruto could feel the chakra flowing away.

"Impossible!" Zorn shouted. Naruto smirked.

"You've never met Naruto Uzumaki." he replied. "With me, nothing is impossible! Letting out another battle cry he punched Zorn in the face. The man fell back, unconscious. Smirking, Naruto directed his gaze to the reaming men rushing forwards. "You five!" he directed pointing to the clones near Sakura. "Get Sakura to the treetops!" The clones quickly did as instructed and Naruto got his stance ready. "Multi-Shadow Clone Jitsu!" he roared. Forty five clones appeared all around again, and glanced at the quickly approaching men. "You know what to do!" Naruto replied. "It's just like our fight with Gaara, everywhere shuriken!" The air was soon filled with shuriken, slicing the already injured men to pieces.

"Way to go, Naruto!" Sakura called from her position on the treetops. Naruto grinned widely, feeling that for once luck was on his side. "Alright, the final blow!" he shouted. "Chakra mass technique!" The clones quickly all disappeared as Naruto directed every ounce of power he had towards the men's bands. He quickly realized that the Demon Fox was feeding him mass amounts of power, but at this point he didn't care. One by one, the bands broke knocking out the men as well until the only one remaining was on the bald man. "Only one to go!" Naruto thought gleefully. "Then we can return to base and..." A sudden piercing pain rippled through Naruto's stomach. Grimacing, he released his chakra in pain and glanced down. Sticking through his stomach was a long, narrow sword. He glanced behind him slowly, to meet the eyes of Verrat. "Oh shit..." Naruto thought. "I was directing so much of my power to the bands that I didn't even detect him coming."

"Hello again, Naruto." Verrat said, smiling with his blackened teeth. Then in one fluid motion, he ripped the sword out of Naruto's body. Naruto screamed in pain and hit the ground, clutching his wound. Verrat was at his side a second later. "Really, I must applaud you." he smirked, pacing around Naruto's injured form. "Destroying six of the most precious objects I had, I never expected anything like that from you. There's something really special about you, isn't there?"

"Naruto, I'm coming!" Sakura cried suddenly from somewhere in the treetops.

"No!" Naruto shouted back. "Sakura, listen to me, you have to get out of here! Go, he'll only take both of us." There was a silence, then Naruto heard quiet sobs. Naruto felt his heart break. Sakura, after all this time, was crying for someone like him?

"Naruto..." she said. "I'll be back with help, I promise."

"Sakura, whatever you do don't tell Sasuke..." Naruto yelled back, feeling the last of his strength leaving as the bald man clenched onto him. "Their trying to get to him..." A sudden and hard kick to his stomach caused him to scream out in pain.

"Listen here, little girl." Verrat said in a chilling tone. "Please do tell our sweet Sasuke-kun about the brat's location. Otherwise his death will be on your hands as well. I would dread to think of what Sasuke would think of you then." Again, there was silence. Until the sound of Sakura jumping away echoed through the forest.

"Your plan won't work" Naruto said, struggling to stay conscious. "Sasuke isn't that dumb, he'll leave the rescue to Kakashi and Sakura." Verrat smiled and leaned very close to Naruto yet again. Naruto was now seeing black spots in his vision, but could still make out Verrat's leering face. The last words he heard before he passed out came from Verrat.

"Sasuke Uchiha's eyes will be ours," he said. "Because we have his greatest weakness."

* * *

Thank you for reading! I hope you found the fight scene okay, I didn't want Naruto to seem overly weak, especially since during his fight with Gaara he kicked ss.

Preview of the next chapter

Sasuke awoke to someone shaking him madly. He grunted in anger and slowly opened his eyes, first noticing the pink hair. Sighing in irritation, he sat up.

"Sakura, what..." he began when he noticed that she was crying. Irritation quickly switched to concern.

"Sasuke..." Sakura managed to say through tears. "They got him, they got Naruto! They planning on torturing him!'


	4. Chapter 4

Hi everyone~

As promised, here is chapter four. :) Again, I apologize for the few grammar/spelling mistakes. I don't have anyone to edit my work. :(

* * *

Chapter 4

Sasuke awoke to someone shaking him madly. He grunted in anger and slowly opened his eyes, first noticing the pink hair. Sighing in irritation, he sat up.

"Sakura, what..." he began when he noticed that she was crying. Irritation quickly switched to concern.

"Sasuke..." Sakura managed to say through tears. "They got him, they got Naruto! Their planning on torturing him!" It was as if the world had suddenly stopped. Sasuke could no longer hear the trees rustling from the tree leaves. He could no longer feel the ache in his back from the hard ground he had been sleeping on. All he felt was the racing of his heartbeat, getting faster and faster.

"No..." he told himself, trying to force his emotions back down. "Freaking out won't help anything. The last time...the last time..." Memories of that faithful night when his village had been massacred quickly entered his mind. His heartbeat raced even faster, like a tiny humming bird within his chest.

"Sasuke..?" Sakura whispered. Sasuke jolted, then straightened up feeling his dark hair slip over his eyes.

"Who's got him?" he answered, trying to keep him face as expressionless as always and his voice monotone. The last thing he needed was Sakura to see how much this was affecting him.

"Verrat!" Sakura whimpered, trying desperately to dry her eyes. "He sent me to get water for him then had a bunch of goons attack me. They were going to torture me, they said they were, until Naruto came in and saved me but...but..." Sakura could no longer help herself and began to cry again. "I'm sorry Sasuke!" she sobbed. "They got him and Verrat said to tell you...I'm so sorry...I swear I would have saved him if I could have...I..."

"It's okay, Sakura." a nearby voice whispered. Sasuke tore his eyes off of Sakura towards the nearby tree, which Kakashi was leaning against, arms crossed. "You did all that you could. I should never have placed you three in this sort of danger."

"Kakashi-sensei!" Sakura cried. "Thank goodness you're here, Naruto..."

"What did you do?" Sasuke snarled, glaring at Kakashi. Sakura glanced at him in surprise, but Sasuke kept his gaze on Kakashi. He could tell from the man's face that there was guilt in his visible eye. The man's posture was also off, and Sasuke would be willing to bet anything that he was injured. Something had happened, and by the looks of it he had been in some sort of battle. Kakashi gazed over his students, then sighed.

"Perceptive as always, Sasuke." he responded, slowly limping his way towards them. "A gift I often wish I was better at." Sasuke grit his teeth, frustrated with the riddles his sensei was saying. Naruto was out there and the last thing he wanted was to waste time. As if sensing his impatience, Kakashi quickly pulled his Bingo book out of his Jounin vest, flipped to a page and dumped it onto Sasuke's lap. Sasuke picked it up suspiciously, and felt his eyes widen at what he was seeing. Sakura went behind Sasuke, and began to read over his shoulder.

"Verrat Crevan, age 34, Rogue Ninja, illegal smuggler and robber of powerful items, wanted for murder, torture, robbery..." Sakura read, only to stop likely because the list contained over 50 different crimes the man had committed.

"Why did you lie to us?" Sasuke snarled, not even bothering to keep his voice level. "Naruto's in danger because of you! You told us that it was a simple escort mission, not some chance for you to take out a criminal!" Kakashi stared at Sasuke, looking guiltier then ever.

"Pack up your things." he responded. "I'll explain while you get ready. Glaring, Sasuke thrust Kakashi's Bingo book back at him then quickly began to pack. Sakura raced to her supplies a little away from him and began to do the same.

"When the third Hokage was alive," Kakashi began. "We noticed that a rogue ninja named Verrat had begun to take particular interest in Konaha. He and his goons had been noticed roaming close to our borders for weeks. They have a reputation for being quite impulse, so it was clear to us that whatever it was that held their attention, they desperately wanted. For a while we watched them curiously, yet being unable to do anything with the Chunin exam underway. Then, during the Sand villages ambush they made their move. Breaking into the Hokage's office, Verrat apparently stole all the documentation there was about one particular individual."

"Me." Sasuke guessed, by now just tying up his final belongings.

"That's right." Kakashi said. "It became clear to me that Verrat and his men were interested in you for one particular reason; to obtain your Sharingan eyes then implant them into Verrat." Sasuke shuddered at this, remembering his brother instantly.

"Can someone who isn't an Uchiha even use them after they implant them?" Sakura asked.

"It seems so, yes." Kakashi said, his eyes never leaving Sasuke. "But only if the ninja has the proper tools and enough power."

"So, you set us up on this mission in order to attack Verrat head on; instead of giving him the chance to attack me unexpectedly." Sasuke guessed, now starting to understand his sensei's motives. Kakashi nodded solemnly.

"When I saw Verrat roaming the town soon after the Third's funeral, I quickly realized that without a Hokage, security was not as tight." Kakashi said. "It seemed that thugs like Verrat were able to sneak in and I worried that with his whole gang, you wouldn't be able to stand a chance, Sasuke." Sasuke stiffened at this and was about to retort until Sakura piped up.

'They had these weird bands on them, Kakashi-sensei." she said. "I've never felt anything like them, they completely drained me."

"I suspected as much," Kakashi sighed. "The bands were stolen from the Cloud country and were considered one of the most powerful items there. In times of war, powerful ninja's would use them in order to drain their most powerful opponent's power and store it for themselves. With them at Verrat's use, no one could stand a chance."

"So, why did you decide to take us off alone instead of keeping us where there was a bunch of Jounin?" Sasuke asked coldly. Kakashi looked troubled by this.

"I confronted Verrat upon seeing him and talked about my team with the surviving Uchiha." he replied. "Verrat seemed very eager suddenly to return to him homeland and asked if we could escort him. I did, as I had a plan in mind." Sasuke made a small sound at the back of his throat. Some good whatever plan his sensei had planned had been. Ignoring him, Kakashi continued. "I had a meeting with the other Jounin that night and instructed them to keep Verrat's thugs and the bands within Konaha walls." he replied. "Meanwhile, I would take you three and Verrat on the trip. From there, I would ambush Verrat and capture him. However, somehow it seemed that the Jounin back home weren't able to hold the thugs there. As for Verrat, when I went into his tent confront him I quickly realized that he had booby trapped it with paper bombs and was able to escape."

"So, now Naruto is out there with these bands, Verrat and his goons." Sasuke said, his voice quivering with rage ever so slightly. Kakashi placed a hand on his shoulder, which he quickly shoved off.

"I want you and Sakura to go home." Kakashi replied. When the Sakura instantly tried to protest, he lifted a hand. "It was my mistake to bring you three out here." he said. "I will save Naruto alone and defeat the men. No matter what happens, I will not allow my comrades to die."

"But Kakashi-sensei, you need our help!" Sakura said. Kakashi shook his head.

"I cannot risk you two further." he said. "Sakura, you have already suffered wounds and Sasuke is the very one their after. This is something that I must..."

"No." Sasuke said, feeling anger seeping through him. "This is something I must do." Kakashi and Sakura both turned to look at Sasuke in surprise.

"Sasuke..." Sakura replied looking upset. "I want to save Naruto as much as you, but maybe Kakashi-sensei is..."

"No one," Sasuke replied glaring at his team mates and feeling his Sharingan activate. "Is ever going to hurt someone precious to me again and get away with it." As he spoke his words, Sasuke felt his neck begin to tingle and soon felt a rush of power being emitted from it. Sakura's eyes widened drastically as she gazed at his neck. Sasuke smirked. His seal must have been activating. But at this point, he welcomed it with open arms. Anything that would bring him more power was welcome. Even if it came from the most evil source itself.

"Sasuke, your neck!" Sakura cried desperately.

"I don't care." Sasuke said point blank, feeling more and more of the power rush through him. "I need this." In the depths of his mind, Sasuke thought that maybe he shouldn't be enjoying this as much as he was. That maybe, feeling this surge of power and superiority over Sakura and Kakashi was wrong. But in the end, he didn't care. He could see it all in his mind now. He was remembering the night when his parents had died, laying their stiff as boards on the cold ground. Then he imagined that it was Naruto lying there, with Verrat standing over him. That thought it itself, that terrible thought, was enough to make him give into any sort of power. Pure or not, it didn't matter, just so long as he could prevent that vision from happening.

"Sasuke, you need trust Kakashi-sensei, he can save Naruto!" Sakura pleaded.

"TRUST?!" Sasuke hollered, causing Sakura to leapt back. "DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA WHAT HAPPENED THE LAST TIME I TRUSTED THE PEOPLE I LOVED WITH SOMEONE?!" The faces of the dead Uchiha clan flashed though his head, over and over with Itachi hovering above them. No, never again. He had promised himself that he would never again allow someone to take away a person he loved again. "Kakashi, take Sakura back to Konaha." Sasuke replied and leapt to a nearby tree.

"No, Sasuke!" Sakura screamed, running after him as he leapt from tree to tree, almost in the forest. Sasuke did, but only for a short enough moment to gaze back at the desperate faces of his sensei and Sakura.

"Naruto is in trouble because someone is after me." he replied. "So, I need to be the one to save him." Then without any other words, he raced as fast as he could through the trees, knowing that Kakashi and Sakura would never be able to catch him with his current power. He ran until he reached Carson waterfall and gazed around. It was quite obvious that a battle had been held there. Footprints covered the ground, from all directions. Yet, there was no sign of any bodies. Walking a bit farther down towards the waterfall, Sasuke froze. On the ground, was an orange piece of cloth with a note underneath it. A kunai was sticking in the middle of the two, so that neither would blow away. Sasuke yanked the kunai out of the ground and picked up the two items. The cloth had a blood stain on it, but rather then that it still retained its vibrant orange color. It was definitely Naruto's. Sasuke slowly slipped the piece into his pocket and read the letter.

"_Dear Sasuke-kun_," it read. "_We're sure that by now you're wondering where your friend is. We have taken him to a remote location where we are slowly breaking him. You have three days to surrender, which means arriving alone at this spot with your hands in the air. If we do not see you by then, we will kill your friend in the most painful way we can imagine. Please hurry, for every day you think about this is another day we hurt the blonde. _

_Sincerely,_

_Verrat _

Sasuke snarled in response. Then ever so slowly, he gazed around. "Where are you?' he hissed, feeling around for some sort of foreign chakra. Sensing some, a smirk crossed his face. "Surrender?" he thought, heading towards the source quietly. "Why would I ever do that when there are multiple other ways to force a man to reveal a location?"

* * *

Thank you for reading! Sasuke is creepy when he's mad. O.o I still remember how in the actual series during the Chunin Exams nearly broke a guy's arms for beating up Sakura. Or his reaction when Orochimaru knocked Naruto out. (shiver)

I'm sorry it's taken a while to get to the SasuNaru loving. I wanted to give background on what was going on so the plot made a bit more sense. But guess what? Next chapter the two are going to meet up! Yay! :D

Preview of next chapter

"How's our little prisoner doing?" Verrat's sickly sweet voice sang out. "Is he ready to talk about what makes his little friend go mad?" Naruto slowly raised his head, his eyes desperately trying to stay open. In the day or so he had been there, the men had beaten him senselessly, refused to let him sleep and had someone wearing the bracelet hold him at all times so that he couldn't heal.

Yet still, Naruto was far from done. Giving the best smirk he could muster, Naruto whispered hoarsely, "Think again, it'll take a lot more than this to make the great Uzumaki Naruto sell out one of his friends." Verrat smirked at this.

"I was hoping you would say that," he whispered. "I have plenty more ideas of making you suffer. You better hope your little friend shows up soon. Before I kill you first."


	5. Chapter 5

IT'S FINALLY HERE! First and foremost, I apologize so so so so so so so x 100 for this being so late. With summer school going on, I had literally no time to write. :( But now, it is done so I quickly wrote up the new chapter.

In this chapter Naruto and Sasuke meet up and there is a hug. :D Please read and review. And thank you to everyone for their patience.

* * *

CHAPTER 5

Naruto screamed as the electricity flooded through him again. It was all pain; everywhere, everything. The blonde was wrapped in chains from head to toe. On his stomach was a metal disk that shared a power similar to the bands. Apparently made specifically for the tailed beasts, the disk would restrict any sort of power exchange between the host and the tailed beast. As soon as the men had discovered that Naruto had the powers of the nine tailed fox through his last attempt struggle to escape, it had been placed on him.

"Well, well, well..." Verrat had whispered coldly in his ear after placing it on him. "Looks like we're going to get two prizes." Then he and the other men had beaten him till he could hardly stand, demanding that he give up information about Sasuke. Naruto had blatantly refused, stating that no matter what they did to him, he would never sell out a friend. That was when they had placed him in the chains, streaming electricity onto him through multiple wires, while pouring water over him. It amazed Naruto that they knew just how much pain he could take. He had been inside the hideout for what he believed to be two days, and still they had managed to keep him alive while torturing him.

"STOP FOR A MINUTE!" someone roared and the pain left. Naruto gasped and panted, staring up bleary eyed. Verrat headed over to him and grasped his face right beneath his chin. "Guess what Uzumaki?" he whispered. "One of the scouts I placed by Carson waterfall is dead." Naruto grimaced and tried to pull his head free from Verrat's grip.

"Don't...see...how that...affects me." Naruto managed to get out. His whole body felt like it was on fire and his eyes struggled to stay open. He couldn't remember ever feeling this horrible. Without the demon foxes power, he truly was helpless. Verrat's nails dug into Naruto's skin at his comment, his eyes blazing.

"Don't play the idiot, Uzumaki." he hissed. "We both know that Sasuke is behind this and is likely heading here as we speak." A flash of hope sparked inside of Naruto, but he quickly let it die down. Verrat was looking at him in a way that promised more pain. No matter how fast Team 7 ran there was no way they could reach this location for at least another day. After all, when he had been...

_CRASH_

A sudden, loud, booming sound of stone collapsing from somewhere nearby, broke Naruto from his thoughts. Dust fell from the ceiling of the cave, making it hard for him to see anything. Through the chaos, Naruto could hear Verrat barking orders for some of the men to go deal with the interference and the sound of rushing footsteps. As quickly as the footsteps had left was the sound of pained screams.

"It's him!" a voice shouted, before he let out a bloodcurdling cry of pain. Naruto felt his stomach drop. "_It's him" _could only mean one thing. Naruto was torn between being thankful and curse at the world. Why had he decided to come? Couldn't he for once, do as he was told instead of trying to play the role of some hero? Naruto swallowed painfully in despair as the dust began to settle and a very familiar figure became visible; alone. Black hair that was covered in dust, eyes glaring with the sharingan and a position ready for attack, Sasuke as always seemed ready. Suddenly, the loud sound of clapping was suddenly heard to Naruto's right. Naruto shivered, noting that it was the side that contained the controls to the electrical current.

"Congratulations, Sasuke-kun!" Verrat's voice rang out. "You made it here in two days, and without surrendering too! Could you possibly get any more amazing?" Sasuke's annoyed eyes briefly met Verrat, before he glanced directly at Naruto. Naruto flinched as he watched Sasuke's face slowly morph to one of horror. Sasuke's sharingan eyes slowly widened to an almost comical degree, his jaw suddenly clenched and his skin suddenly seemed to get a shade paler. It was as if he had suddenly seen his brother, causing Naruto's face to heat up. For Sasuke, who was often an emotionless puppet, to have such a reaction he must really be in bad shape. Noticing Sasuke's outrage, Verrat chuckled. "Your little blonde is alive as promised." he replied, his blackened teeth showing. "But of course, we tried our best to get information out of him. Being the cunning little bastard he is though, he refused to sell you out." Sasuke said nothing to this and continued to stare at Naruto, as if trying to see how hurt he really was. Getting himself under control, Naruto glared back trying to display just how much he needed the other to leave. When Sasuke didn't budge, Naruto growled in annoyance.

"RUN YOU IDIOT!" Naruto yelled. "LEAVE ME BEFORE THEY GET YOU TOO!" Sasuke didn't budge an inch. Then ever so slowly, as if he were in some sort of trance, he began to slowly walk towards him. Naruto heard Verrat chuckle from beside him, as horror flooded through him.

"Get him." Verrat told the closest guards. "He won't be able to fight you with the blonde as our prisoner." The men quickly raced to grab Sasuke, causing Naruto's heart to suddenly throb.

"YOU STUPID MORON!" Naruto yelled tears starting to spring from his eyes. "THEIR AFTER YOUR SHARINGAN, THEY'LL RIP YOUR EYES OUT IF THEY GET YOU!" The men chuckled darkly, obviously enjoying Naruto's despair. Then, in a split second Sasuke broke from his trance and his chakra seemed to explode. In almost a lightning fast blur, he began to pummel the four men that had come after him, using every ounce of power he seemed to have. Relief flooded through Naruto. Sasuke wasn't giving in without a fight and judging by the massive amount of chakra he might be able to beat them. "YEAH SASUKE!" Naruto yelled. Verrat made a growling sound as all four of the men hit the ground. Now it was just the three of them.

"Give in Uchiha, you can't defeat me!" Verrat shouted. Sasuke ignored this and continued to head towards them. With a snarl, Verrat yanked hard on the rope beside him. A bucket of water was suddenly doused over Naruto. He instantly began to shiver, as Verrat grabbed hold of the lever. Before, only a minimal amount of water had been put on him and only a certain voltage. Yet Verrat's smile told him that he was about to be put through the most pain he had ever experienced. With one last sinister smile, Verrat yanked the lever to maximum. Naruto was under the most pain he had ever felt. He felt as if someone was slowly burning him from the inside out. He made a huge gasp for air then began screaming. The pain was like nothing he had ever experienced. Nothing filled his mind but the pain, affecting every part of his body. At that moment, Naruto wished that he was dead. Nothing in the world was worse than this pain. He could hear Sasuke's desperate yelling in the background and suddenly the pain disappeared. The handcuffs that had been holding him were suddenly released and he fell foreword, hitting the ground with a thud. His vision slowly came back and he felt himself yanked upwards by his collar. "Get into the damn cage now Sasuke, or he's staying with me." Verrat's voice rang out. Dimly, Naruto could hear Sasuke's footsteps heading towards a steel cage at the side of the room. He had learned from his stay at the cave that the cage restricted chakra use. If Sasuke went in there, it was all over.

"No..." Naruto forced out softly, only to feel his head slammed against the ground by Verrat. Feeling dizzy now, he glanced up to see Sasuke slowly pass through the open door and glance at him looking petrified. Verrat suddenly began to yank him towards the cage and with one motion flung Naruto into the cage as well. Expecting an impact Naruto shut his eyes only to collide with something soft. It was only after Verrat has slammed the cage door shut that he realized Sasuke had jumped to catch him.

"It's time to face up to your fate." Verrat's cold voice rang out. "I'll be back in a few minutes, after the...preparations are ready. Then you allow me to cut your eyes out."

"And if I refuse?" Sasuke snarled, the distance of his voice making Naruto realize how close they were. Lifting his head up, Naruto saw Verrat grin.

"Then I'll let you stand by as I rip the eyes out of Uzumaki's head instead." he replied. A strong shiver went through Sasuke. Giving the two one last smile, the man walked away. Frowning, Naruto struggled up to his knees. Sasuke glanced at him, a strange look across his face.

"Naruto...' he whispered only to be met with a fist to his face.

"WHAT THE HELL SASUKE?!" Naruto yelled. "What's wrong with you? Why didn't you leave when I asked you too? HE'S GOING TO TRY TO RIP THE EYES OUT OF YOUR HEAD! Doesn't that mean anything to you?" Sasuke stared up at him, his face startled. "WHY DO YOU ALWAYS THROW YOUSELF INTO DANGER?" Naruto yelled. "YOUR LIFE ISN'T WORTH ANY LESS THEN MINE SO WHY...WHY DO YOU KEEP RISKING IT ALL FOR ME?" Something akin to a sad smile crossed Sasuke's face right after Naruto finished.

"You still haven't figured it out, have you?" he whispered softly. Naruto stared at him in confusion.

"Figured out what?" he asked. Sasuke just shook his head and stared and him as if he was the most clueless moron in the world. Naruto frowned, but didn't press it. "Whatever Teme, all I can say is that when that Verrat jerk comes back, I'm going with him."

"No, you're not." Sasuke replied coldly. "He was after me. I'll be going with him." Naruto gaped at this, and then frowned.

"You know what Teme?" Naruto said. "I'm tired of you risking your life for me all the time. For once, I'm going to save your sorry ass."

"You won't be saving it." Sasuke snarled, glaring at Naruto. "Look at what happened when you tried. Now were both stuck in this cage, with no hopes of escape."

"WELL WHOSE FAULT IS THAT?" Naruto shouted back. "You were the one who came after me and who went inside the damn cage."

"Because they would have killed you." Sasuke snarled, getting up. Slowly and painfully getting up on his feet, Naruto glared back.

"And just how would that have concerned you?" he hissed. "No one's ever given a damn about me before." The fist that connected with Naruto's face a second later was somewhat expected, yet he was completely unprepared by the force of it. The blow made him hit the side of the cage with extreme force and crumple back to his knees. He glanced up at Sasuke, noticing his livid and enraged expression.

"I really have to spell it out for you, don't I?" Sasuke hissed. When Naruto didn't reply, he got down to Naruto's level, staring directly into his eyes. "People care about you, idiot." he replied, his voice sounding softer then it had before. Tears welt up in Naruto's eyes at the very words. How badly he wished that was true.

"The villagers hate me you know..." he began only to be cut off.

"Even if some of them do, there are plenty of people who do care. Like Iruka, Sakura, Kakashi and...me." The last word was said with such a low voice that Naruto almost didn't catch it. He glanced at Sasuke, who had now turned his face, obviously embarrassed.

"Sasuke," Naruto said, his voice embarrassingly shaky. Then he whipped his head upn and shouted "I HATE YOU!" Without warning he threw his arms around his best friend. He obviously startled Sasuke, as he managed to knock the other boy over and land on him. Sasuke instantly tensed up for a moment. Naruto began to wonder if he should let go, but when Sasuke relaxed he guessed it was okay. Slowly he squeezed his friend a little tighter, burrowing his head into his shoulder. Sasuke was extremely warm. His body heat engulfed the blond and made him feel safe. "Sasuke...I don't want you to die." Naruto whispered after a moment. Sasuke didn't respond. Figuring that he didn't like the hug, Naruto decided that he better let go. Slowly, he got up and had Sasuke quickly follow suit.

"Naruto..." Sasuke hissed, glancing at the side looking embarrassed. Naruto froze, wondering why his friend seemed angry at him pulling away. His question was soon answered as he felt something very slowly and hesitantly wrap around him.

"Sasuke, the stuck-up jerk who pulls away from everyone and everything, is hugging me?" Naruto thought in confusion as Sasuke tightened his grip. It seemed so. The Uchiha hadn't said a word but his actions were more than enough to show what he was feeling. "Well, I guess I better not analyze it and just enjoy it..." Naruto thought. He was slowly closing his eyes again when he heard Sasuke snarl. He quickly turned around in time to see Verrat watching them.

"Well, well, well." The man chuckled as the two boys quickly pulled away from one another. "It seems that I chose the perfect captive." Sasuke glared while Naruto felt his cheeks turning pink in embarrassment. How long had the man been standing there? "Come along now Sasuke-kun." The man said looking bored. "If you refuse, then you know what will happen."

"Over my cold and dead body will I let you hurt him again." Sasuke whispered. Verrat grinned.

"I know," he replied. 'That's what I was counting on." To Naruto's horror, Sasuke headed over to Verrat and let the man grip his arm.

"SASUKE!" Naruto screamed. Sasuke turned and gave him a very final glance as Verrat slammed the cage door shut. And electrical field suddenly sprung from around the cage and Verrat smiled.

"To think," he said as he towed Sasuke away. "That all it took to capture the mighty Sasuke Uchiha was one little blond genin."


End file.
